Introduction to

Covenant
Eschatology
 Introduction to Covenant Eschatology
The Generation Promise Time Statements
- The Generation Objection
Salvation a Reality
The Olivet Fulfillment
Timeline of Events
The Gospel Preached
Other Signs
- Interpreting Scripture
- Sun, Moon & Stars
- Heaven & Earth
- Did the Law Pass Away?
- The Tribulation
- Armageddon
- Antichrists
- The Last Days
 The Generation Promise

**Matthew 24:34, "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass
away until all these things take place.”

All these things include:

Earthquakes The Gospel Preached
Famines Abomination of Desolation
Tribulation Destruction of the Temple
False Prophets False Christs
Wars
Objection #1: Certainly these events have not yet occurred, thus
Jesus has yet to return. This generation must refer to something
other than whom Jesus was speaking to.
 The Generation Promise
THE GENERATION OBJECTION

Generation means race.

Generation means nation.
Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon of the NT: genea
“The whole multitude of men living at the same time”

If the authors wanted to portray the word generation with a

more ethnic flavor they could have used the word: genos
Galatians 1:14, “and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many
of my contemporaries among my countrymen(genos).”
Acts 7:19, 17:28; Philemon 3:5; 1 Peter 2:9
 The Generation Promise
David Chilton: “Some have sought to get around the force of this text by
saying that the word generation here really means race, and that Jesus was
simply saying that the Jewish race would not die out until all these things took
place. Is that true? I challenge you: Get out your concordance and look up every
New Testament occurrence of the word generation and see if it ever means race
in any other context”
Matthew 1:17; 11:16; 12:39, 41, 42, 45; 16:4; 17:17; 23:36; 24:34;
Mark 8:12, 38; 9:19; 13:30;
Luke 1:48, 50; 7:31; 9:41; 11:29, 30, 31, 32, 50, 51; 18:8; 17:25, 21:32
“Not one of these references is speaking of the entire Jewish race over thousands
of years; all use the word in its normal sense of the sum total of those living at the
same time.”

Conclusion: Generation in Matthew 24 does not mean race or

nation.
 The Generation Promise
THE GENERATION OBJECTION

This Generation refers to the generation that would witness

these events.
Thus changing the scriptures to read something like:

“Truly I say to you, the generation that sees these things take
place will not pass away until all these things take place.”

This interpretation:
- is needlessly redundant
- adds things to the Word of God which are not there
 The Generation Promise
Related Passage:
Matthew 16:28, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who
are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of
Man coming in His kingdom.”

Question: Are any of the disciples whom Jesus was

speaking to alive today?

Conclusion: Jesus arrived in His Kingdom while some of the

disciples were still living.

False Conclusion: Jesus broke His promise.

 The Olivet Fulfillment
For the sake of our study, let’s assume that : This Generation
refers to the generation that would witness these events.

The generation of the disciples did indeed experience and

witness the signs Jesus proclaimed.

Many Christians are unaware of the historical fulfillments

concerning the Temple, Jerusalem and surrounding events
in the first century.
Let’s follow Matthew 24 verse by verse and compare the
Lord’s eschatological predictions with documented,
historical fulfillments.
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 2: Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which
will not be torn down.”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 5: Section 2
”And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was round
about the holy house, burnt all those places, as also the remains of the cloisters
and the gates, two excepted; the one on the east side, and the other on the south;
both which, however, they burnt afterward.”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 7: Chapter 1: Section 1
”Now, as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder... Caesar
gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 6: "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”
Reference Luke 21:21 – “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
then recognize that her desolation is near.”
Origen (AD 225) – Against Celsius – Book 2: Chapter 13
”Now in these it is recorded, that ‘when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed about
with armies, then shall ye know that the desolation thereof is nigh.’ But at that
time there were no armies around Jerusalem, encompassing and enclosing and
besieging it; for the siege began in the reign of Nero, and lasted till the
government of Vespasian, whose son Titus destroyed Jerusalem.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 7: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 3: Section 3
“Moreover, their hunger was so intolerable, that it obliged them to chew
everything, while they gathered such things as the most sordid animals would
not touch, and endured to eat them; nor did they at length abstain from girdles
and shoes; and the very leather which belonged to their shields they pulled off
and gnawed.”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 3: Section 4
”So those that were thus distressed by the famine were very desirous to die; and
those already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not live long enough
either to hear or see such miseries.”
Acts 11:27-28 - ”And in those days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there
was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in
the days of Claudius Caesar.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 7 (con’t): "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”

Acts 16:26 - “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of
the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and
everyone's chains were loosed.”
Tacitus, The Annals, 12:43
“Several prodigies occurred in that year. Birds of evil omen perched on the
Capitol; houses were thrown down by frequent shocks of earthquake, and as the
panic spread, all the weak were trodden down in the hurry and confusion of the
crowd.”
Tacitus, The Annals, 12:58
“Apamea, too, which had been shaken by an earthquake, had its tribute remitted
for five years.”
Tacitus, The Annals, 14:27
“One of the famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was that same year overthrown by
an earthquake.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 7 (con’t):
Seneca, Epistulae Morales (65AD)
“How often have cities in Asia, how often in Achaia, been laid low by a single
shock of earthquake! How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have
been swallowed up! How often has this kind of devastation laid Cyprus in
ruins! How often has Paphos collapsed! Not infrequently are tidings brought to
us of the utter destruction of entire cities.”
History also records earthquakes arising in Rome, Apamea, Hieropolis, and
Colossae between 60-67AD.
Commentary on Philostratos, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana IV.34
“The earthquake mentioned by Philostratus as affecting the site of Lebena in his
account of the life of Apollonius of Tyana has been variously dated within the
course of the I cent. A.D. In recent times the most popular hypotheses set the
the available sources, that the visit of Apollonius to the Asclepieion of Lebena,
and the subsequent earthquake, are to be dated to 66 A.D.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 10: “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and
hate one another.”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 3: Section 3
”Now of those that perished by famine in the city, the number was prodigious,
and the miseries they underwent were unspeakable ; for if so much as the
shadow of any kind of food did anywhere appear, a war was commenced
presently; and the dearest friends fell a-fighting one with another about it,
snatching from each other the most miserable supports of life.”
Verse 11: “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.”
1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see
whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 5: Section 2
”A false prophet was the occasion of these people's destruction, who had made a
public proclamation in the city that very day, that God commanded them to get
upon the temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs of their
deliverance.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 14: “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a
testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Romans 16:25-26 - “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the
mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested,
and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the
eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of
faith;.”
Verse 15: “Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was
spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place let the reader
understand).”
Josephus – The Wars of the Jews – Book 6: Chapter 6: Section 1
“And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon
the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings round about it,
brought their ensigns to the temple and set them over against its eastern gate;
and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus
imperator with the greatest acclamations of joy.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 15: (cont)

Chrysostom (AD 347) – Homilies on Matthew – Homily 74: Section 3

“Was their house left desolate? Did all the vengeance come upon (that
generation)? It is quite plain that it was so, and no man gainsays it.”

Clement of Alexandria (AD 160)

"We have still to add to our chronology the following, -- I mean the days which
Daniel indicates from the desolation of Jerusalem, the seven years and seven
months of the reign of Vespasian. For the two years are added to the seventeen
months and eighteen days of Otho, and Galba, and Vitellius; and the result is
three years and six months, which is "the half of the week," as Daniel the
prophet said. For he said that there were two thousand three hundred days from
the time that the abomination of Nero stood in the holy city, till its
destruction.”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 16: “then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.”

Eusebius (AD 263) – Church History – Book 3: Chapter 4: vs 9

But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation,
vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell
in a certain town of Perea called Pella..”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
Verse 21: “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred
since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”
Eusebius (AD 263) – Church History – Book 3: Chapter 7: vs 9
"It is fitting to add to these accounts the true prediction of our Savior in which
he foretold these very events. The historian (Josephus), reckoning the whole
number of the slain, says that eleven hundred thousand (1.1 million) persons
perished by famine and sword, and that the rest of the rioters and robbers, being
betrayed by each other after the taking of the city, were slain. But the tallest of
the youths and those that were distinguished for beauty were preserved for the
triumph. Of the rest of the multitude, those that were over seventeen years of
age were sent as prisoners to labor in the works of Egypt, while still more were
scattered through the provinces to meet their death in the theaters by the sword
and by beasts. Those under seventeen years of age were carried away to be sold
as slaves, and of these alone the number reached ninety thousand. These things
took place in this manner in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, in
accordance with the prophecies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who by
divine power saw them beforehand as if they were already present”
 The Olivet Fulfillment
The First Century was a significant time of tribulation as
God dismantled the imperfect covenant He had with
mankind. Many signs and wonders accompanied the
unveiling of His new, faultless covenant. The Historical
fulfillments of such should raise some credibility and cause
the skeptics to at least entertain the possibility that these
events have already been fulfilled.

Conclusion: Jesus’s prophecies concerning His return were

fulfilled within the first century.

Next, let’s take a more specific look at one of the predictions

Jesus mentions in His Olivet Discourse – The Gospel
Preached.
 The Gospel Preached
Objection #2: It’s impossible that every single person on this
planet has heard the gospel!
Matthew 24:14, “This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end
will come.”
Mark 16:14-18, “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were
eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn
refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He
said to them, "Go into the entire world and preach the good news
to all creation.”
The Gospel had to be preached to:
- the whole world
- all nations
- all of creation
 The Gospel Preached
**Colossians 1:6, “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it
has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all
its truth.”
**Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your
faith is being reported all over the world.”
**Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel
and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has
been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the
prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all
the nations, leading to obedience of faith;”
**2 Timothy 4:6-17, “For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is
come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: ....But
the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully
proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear.”
**Colossians 1:23, “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved
from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been
proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
 The Gospel Preached
WAS PAUL WRONG?

The Pauline scriptures are pretty clear that fulfillment of the

words of Jesus came to pass in the first century.

Conclusion: Jesus’s prophecies concerning the gospel being

preached to the nations, whole world and all of creation
were fulfilled inside the first century.

Next, let’s transition into discussing the vivid imagery found

within Matthew 24 and how it ties together with a first
century return of Christ.
 Other Signs
SUN, MOON & STARS

**Matthew 24:14, “But immediately after the tribulation of those

days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light
and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens
will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they
will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power
and great glory.”
Objection #3: These events never were witnessed and recorded!
Logically, if such physical events happen it could only mean
the imminent destruction of our universe – which is exactly
what many believe today! Rather, such poetic language is
found elsewhere in the Bible to symbolically describe
governing bodies.
 Other Signs
SUN, MOON & STARS

Celestial bodies were often used to symbolize the rulers (or

leaders) of nations.

**Genesis 37:9-10, “Now he had still another dream, and related

it to his brothers, and said, ‘Lo, I have had still another dream; and
behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down
to me.’
He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father
rebuked him and said to him, ‘What is this dream that you have
had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to
bow ourselves down before you to the ground’?”
 Other Signs
SUN, MOON & STARS

**Isaiah 13:1-17, “The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of
Amoz saw.. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people!
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of
hosts musters the army for battle. Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It
will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp,
every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will
take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be
amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames. Behold, the day of the
LORD comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate;
and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their
constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its
going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish
the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance
of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Behold, I will stir
up the Medes against them.”
 Other Signs
SUN, MOON & STARS

Obviously there was no literal falling of stars in the days of

Isaiah. He pictured the Babylonian Emperor as the sun, the
queen as the moon, the military, political, business, and
religious leaders as the stars, and the might of the empire as
the powers of heaven. If you recall, the Median empire
conquered Babylon in 538BC.
So when Jesus uses these exact words, with the order
slightly changed, he is using Isaiah's symbolic language to
refer to the fall of Jerusalem in the lifetime of His hearers.
Jerusalem (Israel) was going to be destroyed in the same
way as Babylon was six centuries before.
Conclusion: Jesus was referring to the destruction of Israel and
its Old Covenant law.
 Other Signs
HEAVEN & EARTH

**Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My

words will not pass away.”

Much like the celestial bodies, heaven and earth were also
used symbolically to describe a government-ship.

**Isaiah 51:15-16, “I have put My words in your mouth and have

covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens,
to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people’.”

**Leviticus 26:19, “I will also break down your pride of power; I

will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.”
 Other Signs
HEAVEN & EARTH

**Deuteronomy 29:19, 31:24-28, “These are the words of the covenant which
the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab,
besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb. And Moses
summoned all Israel and said to them…

It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book
until they were complete that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark
of the covenant of the LORD, saying, ‘Take this book of the law and place it
beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as
a witness against you. For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness;
behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against
the Lord; how much more, then, after my death? Assemble to me all the elders of
your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and
call the heavens and the earth to witness against them’.”
 Other Signs
HEAVEN & EARTH

The term heavens and earth represent more than just their
physical manifestations.

The term heavens and earth describe the covenant world

which God created for Israel upon their deliverance from
Egypt governed by the law which He had given to them.

Conclusion: Jesus was referring to the destruction of the Old

Covenant law and its constituent elements.

Next, let’s take some time to discuss some of the other signs
associated with Jesus’s return.
 Other Signs
THE TRIBULATION

History records the Christians of the first century enduring

horrendous tribulation.
- beheading - disemboweled
- crucifixion - burned
- stoning - fed to animals

**Revelation 1:9, “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in

the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus,
was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and
the testimony of Jesus.”

Conclusion: The Tribulation has already occurred.

 Other Signs
ARMAGEDDON

Revelation 16:16, “And they gathered them together to the place

which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”
- Har-Magedon is a place, not an event
- Means mountain (or valley) of Megiddo
- Megiddo is a city located at the southern entrance to the
Jezre’el valley along the plain of Esdraelon.
- Megiddo overlooked the crossroads to the Via Maris
- Megiddo and the underlying Jezre’el valley were the
scene for over 100 battles throughout history
- Plain of Esdraelon and the Megiddo outpost was used by
Roman forces in 67AD to gather and reinforce their legions.
(Josephus, Norman Bentwich)
Other Signs
ARMAGEDDON
 Other Signs
ARMAGEDDON

Conclusion: The gathering of armies inside the valley of Megiddo

occurred in 67AD when the Roman legions set out to attack Israel
and her holy city, Jerusalem.
 Other Signs
ANITCHRISTS

**1 John 2:17-19, “The world is passing away, and also its lusts;
but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Children, it is
the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even
now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is
the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of
us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us;
but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not
of us.”
1 John 2:22 ("He is antichrist who denies...")
1 John 4:3 ("this is the spirit of the antichrist...")
2 John 1:7 ("a deceiver and an antichrist.")
Conclusion: Antichrist/s was a 1st century movement.
 Other Signs
THE LAST DAYS

**Acts 2:14-16, “But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice
and declared to them: ‘Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this
be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk, as
you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken
of through the prophet Joel’.”

**Joel 2:28-32, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on
all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will
dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female
servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the
sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned
into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the
Lord comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord
will be delivered.”
Conclusion: The disciples were living in the last days.
 Other Signs
TIME STATEMENTS

There are over 100 time statements in the New Testament

supporting a soon-to-happen time of events.
1. Matt. 3:2 21. Luke 10:11 41. I Cor. 15:51-52 61. Heb. 9:8-10 81. I Peter 3:3,5
2. Matt. 3:7 22. Luke 20:15-19 42. I Cor. 16:22 62. Heb. 9:11 82. II Peter 3:10-12
3. Matt. 3:10 23. Luke 21:22 43. Eph. 1:21 63. Heb. 9:26 83. I John 2:8
4. Matt. 3:12 24. Luke 21:32 44. Phil. 4:5 64. Heb. 10:1 84. I John 2:17
5. Matt. 4:17 25. Luke 23:28-30 45. Col. 1:23 65. Heb. 10:25 85. I John 2:18
6. Matt. 10:7 26. Luke 24:21 46. Col. 2:16-17 66. Heb. 10:27 86. I John 2:18
7. Matt. 10:23 27. John 14:18,20,22 47. I Thess. 4:15,17; 67. Heb. 10:37 87. I John 4:3
8. Matt. 12:32 48. I Thess. 5:23 68. Heb. 13:14 88. Jude 1:4,14-15
9. Matt. 16:27 28. John 21:22 49. II Thess. 1:6-7 69. James 2:12 89. Jude 1:17-19
10. Matt. 16:28 29. Acts 2:16-17 50. I Tim. 4:8 70. James 5:1,3 90. Rev. 1:1
11. Matt. 21:40-45 30. Acts 17:31 51. I Tim. 6:14 71. James 5:7 91. Rev. 1:3
12. Matt. 24:34 31. Acts 24:15 52. I Tim. 6:19 72. James 5:8 92. Rev. 2:25
13. Matt. 26:64 32. Acts 24:25 53. II Tim. 3:1-9 73. I Peter 1:6 93. Rev. 3:10
14. Mark 1:15 33. Rom. 4:23-24 54. II Tim. 4:1 74. I Peter 1:20 94. Rev. 3:11
15. Mark 12:9,12 34. Rom. 8:13 55. Heb. 1:1-2 75. I Peter 4:5 95. Rev. 12:5
16. Mark 13:30 35. Rom. 8:18 56. Heb. 1:14 76. I Peter 4:7 96. Rev. 18:24
17. Luke 3:7 36. Rom. 13:11-12 57. Heb. 2:5 77. I Peter 4:17 97. Rev. 22:6
18. Luke 3:9 37. Rom. 16:20 58. Heb. 6:5 78. I Peter 5:1 98. Rev. 22:7
19. Luke 3:17 38. I Cor. 7:29 59. Heb. 6:7-8 79. II Peter 1:19 99. Rev. 22:10
20. Luke 10:9 39. I Cor. 7:31 60. Heb. 8:13 80. II Peter 2:3 100.Rev. 22:12
40. I Cor. 10:11 101.Rev. 22:20
 Other Signs
TIME STATEMENTS

Read over a few of the aforementioned passages and take

special note regarding the wording of the time statements.

at hand are coming already the hour

is near has come near very very soon
maranatha about to come is passing away
these days about to judge ready to disappear
drawing near these last times

In what language do any of these mean “2000+ years from

now” ?
Conclusion: The NT writers expected the events surrounding
Christ’s return to happen soon – within their generation.
 Other Signs
Again, there is sufficient evidence to cause most skeptics to
at least consider a first century return of Jesus possible.

Our next topic will touch on a more sensitive idea regarding

our orthodox belief on Salvation.

Salvation Completed
Salvation can be a complicated word to interpret and
understand, but for the sake of our discussion we will use it’s
most commonly used definition - “eternal life”.

Question: Where do you go when you die?

 Salvation a Reality
The answer may surprise you.
Rev. 20:11-15, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was
seated on it…..Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of
fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Here we see Hades being discarded after the Great White
Throne judgment. This can only mean that Hades is still in
use. Also, take note of the distinction between Hades and the
Lake of Fire – they are not the same thing! If the second
coming has yet to occur, then we must admit that we still go
to Hades when we die.
Objection #4: Because Salvation was completed at the cross we
can be assured that we will go to Heaven when we die.
 Salvation a Reality
1 Peter 1:10, “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and
searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come
unto you.”
1 Peter 1:5, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Romans 13:11, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high
time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when
we believed.”
**Hebrews 9:28, “so Christ also, having been offered once to bear
the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without
reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Conclusion: Salvation was made complete at Christ’s return.

 Salvation a Reality
Under the Futurist model we demonstrate that currently we
will not go to heaven to be with God when we die. Salvation
is made complete at Jesus’s return. Under the Futurist model
Christ is still in heaven with the Father preparing a place for us.
And to think Preterists are often accused of diminishing the
Christian hope (of Jesus’s return).

Contrary to what you may hear, Covenant Eschatology offers a

fulfilled and final victory to God’s corner. Much like the OT
priests, Jesus ascended to God and supplicated Him to accept
the proxy of His atonement so that man would now have a
place with God. Jesus quickly returned to show us that God
accepted the sacrifice, ushering in the new covenant with His
creation. All creation is now free to have a relationship w/ God.
 Timeline of Events
Sometimes it helps us to have a diagram to help place events
in respect to each other. The next slide features the best
representation I could find of assembling eschatological
events from a Preterist perspective.

- I would also add the “tribulation” period between 30-70AD

- I would place the first resurrection as occurring in 33-34 AD
(Matthew 27:52, Revelation 20:1-5)
- I would note the millennium period between 33/34 – @70 AD
(Revelation 20:1-10)
Special thanks to John Noe for the use of this diagram
Timeline of Events
 Introduction to Covenant Eschatology
CONCLUSION

I hope this quick overview provided enough material to get

you, or somebody else, started in their study of Covenant
Eschatology.

As you will find out Preterism encompasses much more

than just “end times” events and will most likely challenge
the deeply held traditional beliefs we grew up with.

Don’t immediately believe everything you hear (including

this tutorial)! I highly encourage you to study these things
for yourself and arrive at your own conclusions.